Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions HK AVR254

Hi all! I'm new to posting to the Axiom message boards although I've been lingering here and doing lots of reading over the past month or so.

Obviously I'm looking at buying a new speaker setup and after lots of research I have ended up here because the Axiom line is at the top of my list.

I don't have a huge listening room...about 13x15 but the area behind my listening position is open to the kitchen which is about 15x15

My main use is music...and I often like to crank the tunes while I'm working in the kitchen or sitting out on the deck (I'm in the country so I don't have to worry about bothering the neighbours! )

I have my eye on the M80s but I'm curious as to how they would work with my Harman Kardon AVR254. I don't have a separate amp and hadn't really planned on getting one. I see that Axiom lists HK as a good receiver to use with the M80s but I know mine is kinda at the low end. Or maybe the M80s are a little overkill??

I'm also looking at the VP150 and QS8s. I currently have an older Velodyne sub but probably won't replace it yet since I don't spend that much time watching movies.

Thoughts or advice?

Oh...and sorry for the long winded post!

Welcome!

I would get the M80s as the H/K will work just fine and if you want/need more power it has preouts to feed the signal to an outboard amp.

I ran my M80s with a low wnd Denon 1804 and it reached db levels that would damage your ears if listened to for any length of time.

Excellent...that's what I wanted to hear!

Thanks!

Welcome, and that was not too long of a post. No post police here.

I have M80s in a closed HT that's 14 x 16, and I enjoy them. You could probably make do with smaller speakers in that size room, esp with a good sub, but I'll defer to others since I don't have any firsthand experience with bookshelves and smaller towers.

Actually, scratch that - I did hear that the M3 ($330) recently beat the Bowers & Wilkins 805 ($2500) in a head-to-head blinded comparison test ....

I considered recommending smaller speakers but he stated he would be out on the deck listening as well, so the M80s would be a better choice or the M60s, but the slightly better bass from the M80s and crisper sound is why I recommend the M80s more often.

Rethinking this a little and you could go M3`s or M22`s in the house and run some wire out to the deck and use some Algonquin`s out on the deck for sound right on the deck rather than muffled a bit with the speakers stuck in the house.

I had thought about the M60s and M22s since they both get rave reviews as well but I don't want to regret not spending the little extra to get the M80s...so long as the M80s aren't going to be too much for my room.

I will eventually run separate speakers to the deck. Still have some other outside work to do.

Is the "slightly better bass" of the M80s enough to warrant 2 channel listening for music (ie. no sub)?

And thanks for the "Welcome's"! Seems like a great bunch here...glad to be a part.

I would go with the M80s in your situation as well. You will be a fair distance from the speakers when in the kitchen and even farther away when on the deck.

HK does their power ratings differently than anyone else, so you are getting more than 50wpc out of the avr. You should be fine.